The present invention relates to a package, and more particularly to a re-sealable package suitable for containing a stack of refreshers or the like intended to be extracted individually, whilst the refreshers main in the package are prevented from drying out by re-sealing of the pack. However, a package in accordance with the invention may also be used to contain other materials which are to be kept in a damp condition until they are ready for use.
In this Specification the term "refresher" is used to mean an item for use in personal hygiene and when soap and water are unavailable and consisting of a sheet of, fabric, paper or non-woven material, for example, which is impregnated with a solution, such as, for example, a cleansing, antiseptic solution containing a mild cleansing component, a substrate replacing natural oil which prevents the skin from drying out, a bacteriocide and also, possibly a perfume. Such refreshers may be supplied in the form of a stack of individual sheets or a stack of sheets which are interconnected by perforated portions.
Such refreshers have been provided previously, and such previously provided refreshers have been packed individually in moisture impermeable wrappers of, for example, aluminium foil to retain the moisture within the refresher. Such wrapped refreshers have been marketed in a non-moisture-tight outer packages usually containing ten individually wrapped refreshers. If such a package is utilised each refresher is still moist at the time of use, but as each refresher has to be individually wrapped and since the non-moisture-tight outer package has to be provided, packaging costs are high, making the eventual purchase price high for the consumer.
In order to minimise the cost of a package of the refreshers it has also been proposed to provide a package for a stack of refreshers which are in direct contact with each other, the stack of refreshers being packaged in a moisture-impenetrable box which is provided with an opening in the upper surface of the box at the top of the box. A substantially tongue-shaped sealing member is provided, which also consists of a moisture-inpenetrable material, and the tongue-shaped sealing member is attached, by one end thereof to the upper surface of the box. The sealing member is of such length and width that it can cover the opening in the upper surface of the box and it is preferred that the tongue-shaped sealing member is formed at least partially of an easily deformable sealing material such as rubber. The sealing member is so designed that when the sealing member is in contact with the edges of the opening the deformable sealing material is brought into contact with the edges of the opening and the sealing member is sufficiently heavy to deform the sealing material so that a substantially moisture-tight seal is obtained. It will be appreciated that in utilizing such a package the opening can be exposed merely by lifting up the free end of the sealing member to permit one or more refreshers to be withdrawn from the package. Subsequently, when the sealing member is released, the opening in the package is automatically re-sealed. It will be appreciated that such a package is extremely bulky and is thus not suitable to replace the multiple pack described earlier in which the refreshers were individually wrapped, since the bulky package is inconvenient to carry in hand luggage on journeys, whilst the multiple pack is relatively small.